Bitter

twenty-one - lydia

   I never would've stepped foot in West Haley's car if I had known it was his. I wouldn't have done it in a million years to get back at Cal Warrick either, yet here I was and I had done just that because I hadn't recognized West. He looked completely different. The only thing that remained the same about him was his angry eyes. I just shouldn't have gone with him and I hated myself for doing that.

   "Alright. Out," West ordered like we were all dogs. I couldn't open that car door fast enough, and when I was finally able to stand, I breathed the fresh air in. The sunset was nice, but as soon as I was reminded who was with me, I immediately abandoned that thought. "I've got a fake ID," West told us nonchalantly, already heading for the liquor store with its bright red sign lit up, winking at the rest of us. "If it doesn't work," he said, "I've got this." He pulled out a sharp blade, and Marco's reaction put the terrible, sinking feeling in my chest into words. Was that the same switchblade he'd had in elementary school?

   "Whoa, West, are you crazy?" Marco questioned, his wide eyes never leaving the glinting blade.

   West rolled his eyes and scoffed. "What, you've never seen a knife before?" He flicked the blade in and out and everyone was just staring, frozen in place.

   "Let's go do something...else," Zach suggested.

   "I want to go home," Meg whispered.

   "No," West shot back.

   Marco took a step toward the maniac, his arms spread wide as if he were surrendering. "Come on, dude, we don't have to-"

   Without warning, West shouted, "No!" Meg flinched beside me. "We do have to, Marco! You owe me! You were supposed to pay today! Today!"

   Marco was at a loss for words as West rushed straight at him with the knife.

   "Stop!" Zach yelled, his voice cracking as real fear spread through all of us. We were all ready to bolt, but West slowed his pace and started laughing. He stopped right in front of Marco and flicked the blade in and out again.

   "Your faces! You really thought I was gonna do something?" he asked like he hadn't just ran at Marco with a knife and murder in his eyes. He laughed again (it was a sort of giggle this time which made my skin crawl).

   We all exchanged nervous glances and Meg suddenly mumbled, "I'm calling the police." She started dialing 911 on her phone with shaky fingers, but only got to the second 1 because West saw this and knocked the phone from her hands onto the pavement. The screen was destroyed, a spiderweb of cracks covering it. Meg broke out in tears.

   "Are you dumb!?" West erupted. He swore and resorted to calling Meg a bunch of disgusting names which only made her cry more. I used this time when West was distracted to call a car from some ride-sharing app (I'd never used it before but it felt like a good time now to do that). Shouting was filling my ears, but I managed to stay focused and I had someone coming to pick us up in three minutes.

   That was when West slapped Meg across the face and I instantly wanted to kill him. Unfortunately, he still had the switchblade and I had nothing, so I would've been an idiot to try and do anything to him, especially since he was a giant compared to me.

   Either Marco completely forgot about West having a weapon or he didn't care, because he shoved West backward angrily and Meg shrunk away behind everyone else.

   Jason was still frozen and Zach finally punched West hard enough that the psycho stumbled over his own feet and lost his balance, falling to the ground. He was laughing with blood-stained teeth and I was sure that everyone in that moment agreed West was a danger to anyone he came across.

   A black car beeped nearby and I looked over to see the car I'd called was there. Did they see all of this happening? What were they thinking? I darted over to Meg and grabbed her hand, tugging her along over to where the car was waiting. She was sobbing uncontrollably, mascara running down her cheeks. I threw open the car door and she climbed in, sliding over into the seat. The driver was asking me something but I really wasn't listening. I was looking back at West sitting in the parking lot, chuckling to himself, while Marco, Zach, and Jason surrounded him. Marco glanced around, eventually locking eyes with me, and nodded. He shooed me away with his hand, letting me know it was all under control and it was okay to go. I nodded back.

   I shut the door behind me and sat back next to Meg, my heart knocking against my ribs as I took a breath. Never in my life did I think I'd be grateful for Cal Warrick's friends and Meg Sadler by my side again, but here I was.

———

   Back at school the next day, nothing changed.  Marco, Jason, and Zach all sat with West still at lunch (but I was guessing it was more out of fear than them actually enjoying his company). They didn't look as chatty as they did before though and West was the only one who would laugh.

   I sat alone at the end of my usual table, watching Meg with all of her friends, but even she couldn't smile. At the mention of Jason's party tomorrow night, she just nodded halfheartedly while the other girls snickered with excitement.

   I knew we were all thinking about the same thing. What happened yesterday evening. It was kind of hard to forget even though I knew we all wanted to. Meg and I had lied to the driver about everything being fine and all just a joke, so Meg probably told her mom the same thing since she'd clearly been crying the whole ride home.

   When I told Mom I'd been hanging out with Meg after I'd gotten home, she didn't ask any more questions. She'd always liked Meg and was probably happy that I was "friends" with her again. We definitely weren't, but our shared experience changed something between us and I found myself not hating her. I felt bad for what had happened to her and I hoped she didn't hate me as much now either.

   Cal was nowhere to be seen in the cafeteria and I wondered if he even came to school today. He'd been pretty beat up yesterday. It was a shame he wasn't here because I needed to tell him about West Haley. Forget our little revenge game, West was dangerous and Cal was the only one that would care about getting rid of the lunatic, especially after what had happened at Landon Elementary.

   It was decided then and there, that I, as much as I hated the idea, would be going to Jason's pool party this Saturday night. If Cal would be anywhere, he would be there. West had replaced him and I knew Cal would do anything to have the attention back on him. I had seen that familiar look of jealousy and disgust on his face when West had first walked down the school hallway. He'd be at Jason's party alright and unfortunately, so would I.